NEW BRUNSWICK – While most high school students stay far from the classroom in summer, 15-year-old Shayla Needham was excited to spend a week at Rutgers University as a Samsung Scholar studying STEM — science, technology, engineering and math.

“I came here to explore science and math and learn different things,” the New Brunswick High School sophomore said. “Maybe even one I could possibly go into a career for. This is the first time I came here. It won’t be my last.”

Needham is one of 63 teenagers who chose to attend the sixth annual Rutgers Summer Science Program, a precollege residential program that engages students from communities across the state in active, hands-on STEM learning.

“The program gives them the opportunity to explore different STEM skills and fields and find something that possibly sparks a future career,” said Chad Ripberger, the Mercer County 4-H agent who six years ago co-founded the program with Janice McDonnell, the state 4-H science agent.

Ripberger said that STEM professions are disproportionately underrepresented among minorities, particularly in Latino and black urban areas, and among women.

For this reason, the 4-H summer program encourages teens from these demographics to apply. The 2014 program has 43 girls enrolled.

Nine of the teens hail from Middlesex County with the remainder coming from Union, Essex, Mercer and Passaic counties.

Abby Gallo, program manager of corporate citizenship at Samsung Electronics North America said that Samsung first sponsored the program last year and granted scholarships to all the students who attend both years.

Keziah White, 15, of Union Township said she was spurred into pursuing an interest and career in the science fields because a fourth-grade teacher told her she couldn’t.

“She said I would never succeed in science,” said White, a sophomore at Roselle Catholic who hopes to pursue an engineering degree. “That hurt me. Still whenever I think about her I get mad. But it made me want to learn more about all different kinds of science and do well in it. I wanted to prove her wrong. I still do.”

Curriculum to spark a future

The program is sponsored by Rutgers, 4-H and Samsung and its curriculum centers on biotechnology, biomedical engineering, environmental science, exercise physiology, mobile app development and marine science. Classes are taught by Rutgers professors, with the support of graduate students. During the week, the Samsung Scholars live in Rutgers dorms and use Galaxy Note 10.1 tablets, donated by Samsung, to collect and process data from lessons, share real-time updates and capture photos and videos from the program.

“This is a great way for students with an interest in STEM to get involved,” Gallo said. “It really gets them excited. Samsung’s headquarters are in Ridgefield Park and we employ 1,000 people in the state. It’s important for us to engage the students in STEM and encourage them to pursue STEM studies and careers.”

Ripberger said for the first two days, students are exposed to a variety of STEM fields and disciplines. They have roundtable discussions with professors or graduate students, tour a laboratory and participate in a lab experiment.

On Wednesday, the teens broke up into groups based on chosen concentrations. For the most part, the students complete lab work, research, investigations, collect data, analyze and answer questions. Students get more hands-on with the topics, Gallo said.

“The program gives them a taste of the college experience as it also exposes them to the STEM fields,” she said. “They also see how STEM is applied to real world issues.”

Today will see the teens prepped to be science ambassadors and on Friday, they will present their data and observation findings through “science posters” that each team will create. Parents, school administrators and professors are invited to attend the presentations.

Bringing their knowledge home

Gallo added that following the Summer Science Program, the students bring their newly acquired knowledge back to their respective communities. That will help increase academic awareness and interest in STEM subjects among other teens, she said.

“There is a multiplier effect as the students take what they learn back to other students and show them what they learned,” she said. “So, it isn’t just 63 students that are impacted but all those that they reach out to.”

The students were able to participate in concentrations such as biotechnology, which involved cooking with bacteria, biomedical engineering, ocean science, developing mobile apps and mapping the effects of and storm damage from superstorm Sandy on local trees and wildlife, among others.

“There is really a lot to offer here,” said Jada Peterson, 15, a sophomore at Rahway High School. “So many different courses in science. It’s great to learn a lot. I know that I want to pursue a career in science — definitely in some field of science.”

In the mobile app development module, students gave a variety of reasons — game playing, making money, learning new skills, curiosity, policy making — for their interest in the technology. This was the first time this course had been offered, Gallo said.

“I never heard of app inventing before. Maybe I can be an app inventor,” said Needham. “Technically, I invented one today!”

Brandy Raviela, 14, of New Brunswick, chose the biotechnology course as it connects well to her future. As the New Brunswick High School sophomore hopes to be a dermatologist, she learned “how necessary the microbial community is to everyday lives.” In that course, the students made yogurt with starter cultures and collecting data on microbiology by microscopy, pH, sensory changes in fermentations.

“I wanted to take advantage of what this program offers,” she said. “I intend to make the most of this opportunity.”